Iran gives refugees five days

Afghan refugees in Iran have been given only five days to get themselves registered in the Bureau of Alien Foreign Immigrant Affairs (BAFIA) centres to go back home, otherwise they will be punished.

Abdolvahab Mousavi Lari, Iran's Interior Minister, yesterday said: "It is time for our Afghan guests to return to their homeland and appreciate Iran's hospitality by obeying its law after they have stayed in our country for more than 20 years."

Lari, meanwhile, said Iran will not repeat the mistake it made during the U.S. reprisal attacks on Afghanistan with regard to the issue of refugees, in case Washington decides to attack Iraq.

Lari, who was speaking at a meeting of Refugee Affairs Officials, said once the U.S. military action in Baghdad begins, Iran will set up refugee camps inside the Iraqi territory to prevent an influx of refugees into the Islamic Republic.

Pointing to furnishing millions of Afghans in the last two decades he added: "Because of having high sentiment and tolerance towards refugees and lack of experience we let millions of Afghans indiscriminately enter the country and live as our citizens without paying taxes."

He went on to say that it is not normal in any country of the world where more than three million refugees spread in the country and nobody knows what they are doing.

Lari said we are all Muslims, but our Afghan brethren should obey the laws of their Muslim neighbouring countries.

Nonetheless, he said Iran, if is eventually forced to accept refugees from Iraq due to war, will settle them near its western border to prevent them from spreading throughout the country.

Iran will have to prepare for developments beyond its western border and work to further decrease the replication of consequences inside.

Following the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan, Iran set up two camps Mile 46 and Makaki, on the Afghan side of its eastern border to prevent a massive influx of the refugees into the country.

The presence of Afghan refugees has cost $2.182 billion per annum to the Iranian government while international associations simply supply $18 million.

Iran's reformist dominant parliament on Sunday ratified to allocate $475 million for re-construction projects in Afghanistan.

The reformist MPs who tried hard to ratify the bill, opined that Iran should accelerate the trend of political and economic stability in Afghanistan to stimulate Afghan refugees to go back home.

Lack of job opportunities and insecure situation inside Afghanistan has discouraged the Afghan nationals to move towards their home even after 20 years of living in Iran.

Suleiman Rashid, a 38-year-old Afghan builder who married an Iranian girl 18 years ago said: "It is difficult for my five-people family to move towards Afghanistan while we are not sure to find anything to eat over there."

He said they have been living in Iran for more than 20 years now and are somehow Iranian. "I have really forgotten Afghanistan and don't care what is going on there. My family is happy here. Moreover my wife is an Iranian and she will never accept to go to Afghanistan."

Based on a trilateral agreement between Iran, Afghanistan and the UNHCR, signed on March 19 in Geneva, 400,000 Afghan refugees are to be repatriated to their homeland by the end of the Iranian year which is March 21, 2003.